Rose Hip Jelly and Jam

“Can we make rose hip jelly?” asked my young (10) friend Alden as we walked along the beach bordered by sand dunes covered with beach roses. “These,” she said, pointing to the bright red jaw-breaker sized orbs in the thorny shrubs, “are rose hips. And mom says people make jelly out of them.” We were surrounded by thousands of them. “Sure!” said I. Thank God for the Internet.

So, what are rose hips? They are the seed pods of roses; if you leave the flowers alone to wither on the plant instead of picking them, they will produce rose hips. Rose hips are edible (as are rose petals), though you want to make sure to pick rose hips only from roses that haven’t been sprayed with pesticides. Wild beach roses are perfect, as are dog roses and sweet briars.

Rose hips do not taste like roses. Their taste is sort of tangy, like hibiscus. If you’ve ever had Red Zinger tea, it’s along that line. Rose hips are an excellent source of vitamin C; I’ve seen references from 8 to 40 times as much C in rose hips as in oranges.

So we did, indeed gather buckets full of rose hips from the beach and made a couple batches of jelly and one of jam. Of the two, the kids seemed to prefer the jelly and the adults the jam. The jam is marmalade-ish given that I use an orange and a green apple to help provide pectin. The rose hips themselves have very little natural pectin. The jelly recipe uses commercial pectin.

In doing research for the jelly adventure, several sources mentioned that the rose hips are best picked right after the first frost, when they are the sweetest. We picked them in August, and tried to get them as red all around as we could, and firm, blemish-free.

Have you ever cooked with rose hips? Made tea with them? Jams or Jellies? If so, please share your experiences with us in the comments.

Rose hips have seeds on the inside that are itchy and irritating. If you make jam, you will need to completely remove the seeds. If you make jelly, you can leave the seeds in if you want, or remove them; they will get strained out if you don't remove them before cooking. On doing research for the jelly recipe, one source said that the seeds were slightly tannic and recommended removing them. I tried it both ways and noticed practically no difference in the resulting taste. Removing the seeds is rather painstaking, and for the jelly recipe can add an entire hour to the jelly making process.

Do not use aluminum or cast iron to cook the rosehips; use stainless steel.

Ingredients

Rosehip Jelly Ingredients

2 quarts rose hips

1 1/2 quarts water

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 package SureJell pectin

1/4 teaspoon butter

3 1/2 cups sugar

6 8-ounce canning jars and fresh lids

Method

Rosehip Jelly Method

1 Rinse the rose hips thoroughly. Cut off the scraggly ends and discard.

2 Place rose hips in a large pot. Add 1 1/2 quarts of water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Cover and cook for 1 hour (or longer), until rose hips are soft and mashable.

3 Use a potato masher to mash up the rose hips into a rough purée. Set up a jelly bag, or a large very fine mesh strainer, or 4 layers of cheesecloth over a bowl or large pot. Transfer the rose hip mixture into the jelly bag/strainer/cheesecloth. Let strain into the bowl for at least an hour. Squeeze the jelly bag or cheesecloth to get more remaining juice out.

4 Measure the juice. You will need 3 cups of juice for this recipe, so if you have less than 3 cups, add more water to the mixture (you can also add some boiling water to the jelly bag if you still have it set up, allowing more liquid to drain out).

5 Prepare canning jars. You'll need 5 to 6 half-pint canning jars and lids. Sterilize the jars by either running them through the dishwasher, right before canning, or placing them on a rack in a large pot of water that you bring to a boil for 10 minutes, or by placing them in a 200°F oven for 10 minutes. To sterilize the lids, bring a kettle of a couple cups of water to a boil. Place lids in a shallow bowl and pour the boiling water over them.

6 Place 3 cups of the rose hip juice in a large, wide pot. Add the lemon juice and pectin. Bring to a boil, dissolving all of the pectin. Add the sugar. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the butter. Bring to a hard boil (one that you can not reduce by stirring). The mixture will bubble up considerably. Boil for exactly one minute. Then remove from heat and pour off into prepared canning jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace from the rim.

7 If any jelly falls on the rim as your pour it into the jars, wipe the rim with a damp paper towel. Place sterilized lids on jars and rings to secure. To ensure a good seal, and to guard against mold, you can process the jars in a water bath for 10 minutes (bacteria is already killed by the sugar). To process, place the jars on a rack in a large, tall stock pot. Cover with an inch of water and bring to a rolling boil for 10 minutes. Then turn off the heat, remove the jars from the water, and let cool. As the jars cool you should hear a popping sound as the lids seal. The lids should seal; if not, store in the refrigerator.

Makes 5 8-ounce jars.

Rosehip Jam Recipe

This jam is somewhat of a marmalade jam, given the inclusion of the orange. It uses orange and grated apple to supply natural pectin, so you do not need to add commercial pectin to this recipe.

Ingredients

2 quarts large rosehips

1 large orange

1 large green apple

The zest and juice of 2 lemons

6 cups water

5 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon butter

6 8-ounce canning jars and fresh lids

Method

1 Prepare the rose hips. Cut away and discard the green scraggly ends. Cut the rosehips in half and scrape out and discard all of the seeds and thistle-ly hairy bits. With the remaining rose hip pieces, discard any bits that are blemished. Then roughly chop the rose hips. You will need 4 cups of clean, chopped rose hip.

2 Prep the orange. Cut off and discard the ends of the orange. Slice the orange lengthwise into wedges. Remove (and reserve) any seeds, and if you can, remove and reserve membranes. Take the wedges and cut each one of them so that you have a bunch of little triangles of orange.

3 Prep the apple. Peel the apple, reserving the peel. Then grate the apple with a cheese grater (large hole). Chop up the core and reserve.

4 Place the chopped rose hips, grated apple, and chopped orange into a large (8-quart) wide pot. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice to the pot. Add the water to the pot. Take the apple core pieces, apple peel, and any orange seeds and membrane and place in a double layer of cheese cloth. Wrap them up and place in the pot with the chopped fruit and rosehips. (This will be a source of pectin.)

5 Prepare canning jars. You'll need 6 to 7 half-pint canning jars and lids. Sterilize the jars by either running them through the dishwasher, right before canning, or placing them on a rack in a large pot of water that you bring to a boil for 10 minutes, or by placing them in a 200°F oven for 10 minutes. To sterilize the lids, bring a kettle of a couple cups of water to a boil. Place lids in a shallow bowl and pour the boiling water over them.

6 Bring mixture to a hard boil, partially covered, for 30 minutes or so, or until the orange peels can be easily cut through without resistance. Remove from heat. Remove the cheesecloth pectin bag and place in a bowl to cool. Once cool enough to handle easily, gently squeeze the cheesecloth pouch to extract more of the pectin (it will be sort of gloppy). Add the extracted pectin-y juice back into the pan with the rosehips.

7 Measure out the sugar and add to the rosehip mixture. Heat to high, stirring with a wooden spoon until the sugar has all dissolved. Add butter (will help keep the foaming down). Bring to a rapid boil, uncovered, reduce heat to medium high. Place a small plate in your freezer. After about 25 minutes begin testing the jam by placing a small amount on the chilled plate. Allow 30 seconds to pass and then run your finger through it to see what the cooled consistency will be. Boil for a few minutes longer if desired for a thicker jam. Do not overcook or the mixture will caramelize and give you an odd taste.

8 Ladle the mixture into hot, sterilized canning jars. Wipe the rims of the jars clean with a dampened paper towel. Seal them with the sterilized lids, leaving 1/4 inch of head space.

9 To ensure a good seal, and to guard against mold, if you want, you can process the jars in a water bath for 5 minutes (bacteria is already killed by the sugar). To process, place the jars on a rack in a large, tall stock pot. Cover with an inch of water and bring to a rolling boil for 5 minutes. Then turn off the heat, remove the jars from the water, and let cool. As the jars cool you should hear a popping sound as the lids seal. The lids should seal; if not, store in the refrigerator.